By the Light of the Moon
by mermaidrain
Summary: Pre Harry Potter Verse: Going back to the days when the Marauder's reigned supreme. Sirius centric. A bit of silly humor as the Marauder's are up to their usual hijinks. But also a bit of angst as Sirius has a secret.


Sirius and James were once again the center of attention in the Great Hall. They were dressed up like pirates for the Yule ball—their last Yule ball at Hogwarts—and they had decided to go out with a bang. Of course, the fact that they had been dared to do it didn't detract from their gaiety any less. They had gone all out with their costumes.

Sirius had the eye-patch and James had the stuffed parrot perched on his shoulder. And with the help of a little spell, Sirius also had extremely bushy eyebrows with a matching mustache, while James had actually magiced away some of his teeth and covered others in real gold. Not to mention the wooden leg James had somehow managed to procure. Remus was laughing so hard he was crying. Peter, as per usual, seemed to be a bit lost.

"I thought muggles dressed up for Halloween," Peter said.

"You're missing the point, Peter," James grinned cheekily, flashing his gruesome smile.

"As my dear old mum used to say—" Peter began before all 3 of his compatriots groaned.

"Not another quote from dear old mum, Peter," Lupin pleaded. "Just enjoy it, man!"

Sirius spied the condiment table and oogled the cheese. For some reason, he had an incredible craving for cheese. "Excuse me guys, but I do love a good cheese. Anyone care for some?" he asked belatedly as he had already started walking towards it. There were so many varieties. He found himself overcome by it all. He started grabbing slice after slice and stuffing them in his mouth. He couldn't stop himself.

He could hear Lupin laughing behind him again. He turned to look and saw Lupin doubled over, grasping his knees as he laughed so hard he had difficulty breathing. Peter was staring at him with a look of sheer horror on his face. James was the only one to take any action and walked towards him.

"Uh, Sirius, I know you love cheese, but this wasn't part of the plan," James whispered in his ear as he put his arm on his shoulder, trying to steer him away. But Sirius shrugged him off to stay near the cheese. He couldn't help himself. It was just so delicious. He kept stuffing it in his mouth.

"I cahn't stoff!" he shouted at James with a full mouth. James looked over at Peter and Lupin and shook his head in puzzlement. Something was obviously wrong.

That was when Lily showed up. She looked gorgeous with her red hair done up and wearing a lavender dress that took Sirius breath away and he started to choke. That got her attention. She glowered at them and marched over.

"What are you two doing?" she hissed at James who had the decency to look abashed.

"It was only a gag, Lil, but Sirius is having … some sort of reaction," he looked over at Sirius in growing alarm.

She let out an exasperated breath and quickly pulled her wand out of her purse. Sirius noticed a little hand mirror fall from her purse to the floor and watched it break into a million pieces. "Oh that's just great!" she stomped her foot. "Now I'll have seven years bad luck and it's all your fault! Out on the balcony you two." They meekly followed her commands, though Sirius grabbed a handful of cheese before he left.

"What spells did you use?" she asked James who quickly told her everything they had done.

"You idiot! Didn't you know that spell you used on Sirius could backfire if not used properly? That's why he's eating all the cheese! It causes an abnormal craving for cheese of any kind." She glowered at James as if it was his fault alone.

"Sorry Lil, I guess we didn't think—" James started to say, while Sirius continued to stuff his mouth with the remainder of the cheese he had brought with him.

"That's right you didn't think!" She quickly reversed James' spell so his teeth returned to normal. "Now if you expect to dance with me tonight, you will go and change into some nice clothes!"

James glanced apologetically at Sirius and walked away. Of course he wanted to dance with Lily. Who wouldn't? Usually she was a good sport. Sirius stuffed the last piece of cheese in his mouth, just as Lily reversed his spell.

He was glad it was dark and that she couldn't see his face covered in flecks of cheese that had spilled out of his mouth when he'd tried to talk to James. She pulled a handkerchief out of her purse and handed it to him without looking at him. She was always so gracious and kind. He turned his back to her and wiped his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. He turned back to look at her and saw her resting her gloved arms on the balcony as she looked out on the garden. The moonlight was softly caressing the top of her hair making her look like an angel.

"Moonlight becomes you, my dear," Sirius found himself saying before he could stop himself and clenched his teeth in regret.

Her back stiffened in response. She knew! How long had she known? He turned away from her and growled, "I mean, I better go and change for the dance too." He handed her back her handkerchief without looking and she caught his hand. She held it, but didn't say anything. And he didn't dare turn around. He couldn't bear the look of denial in her eyes, not tonight.

She left him there as quietly as she had come into his heart. Sirius closed his eyes and sighed. He knew she could never love him, that she loved James. And he knew he could never hurt the man that had become like a brother to him. James had already told him of his plans to propose to her and had asked Sirius to be his best man when she said yes. He was that sure of himself.

Sirius opened his eyes and looked up at the moon. And all he wanted to do was howl. Yes, he knew that what he felt in his heart was hopeless and that regardless of all that, he would remain friends with both the woman he loved and the man who loved her. He wanted them both to be happy. He would laugh and joke always, as if nothing had ever changed within him, but not tonight.

He let the change overtake him and bounded off into the dark on all four paws. Tonight, he needed to run. Just for one night, he wanted to howl at the moon and pour out his pain. The moon would listen, and it would not judge.

* * *

**Disclaimer: these characters are created by JK Rowling, they are not of my own creation.**

**Author's Note: a friend of mine challenged me to write a short story about Sirius that would include the following elements (and this was the result):**

**1) The phrase "As my dear old mum used to say..."**

**2) A parrot**

**3) The love of cheese**

**4) A broken mirror**

**5) The phrase "Moonlight becomes you, my dear."**

**6) A magic spell with unexpected results**


End file.
